Abuja, July 15, 2026—The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Nigerian authorities to immediately release Secret Reporters journalist Stanley Ugagbe, who was remanded to prison on Tuesday for two months of pretrial detention, and to drop the cybercrime and defamation charges against him and his publisher, Tega Oghenedoro, also known as Fejiro Oliver.
Ugagbe was
seized
from a taxi in the capital, Abuja, on July 1 by security officers and detained until his July 6 release, without charge, from the National Cybercrime Centre.
When Ugagbe returned to the center to retrieve his phone and laptop on July 13, the police said they had orders to detain him, but released him into the custody of his lawyer, Adekunle Olanipekun, and instructed them to appear in court the following day, Olanipekun told CPJ.
On July 14, an Abuja court
charged
Ugagbe and Oliver on six counts over their June
investigation
into a Central Bank of Nigeria executive’s involvement in alleged
corruption
and
infidelity
, according to a copy of the charge sheet, reviewed by CPJ. It described Oliver, who is outside Nigeria, as a suspect “now at large.”
“Nigerian authorities have already subjected Stanley Ugagbe to secret detention. Now they are seeking to keep him behind bars for reporting on allegations of official corruption,” said CPJ Africa Director Angela Quintal. “Authorities must immediately release Ugagbe and drop the charges against him and Fejiro Oliver if they are serious about upholding democratic principles.”
Ugagbe pleaded not guilty and applied for bail but the judge adjourned his application until September 21, as the prosecutor requested time to respond, Olanipekun told CPJ. With Nigeria’s courts due to begin their annual one-month recess from July 27, Ugagbe was remanded to Kuje Custodial Centre, about 40 kilometers southwest of Abuja, he added.
Olanipekun said he feared Ugagbe would miss his mother’s funeral on July 30 and he was making a fresh bail application.
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